Injury Date: November 29, 2004

Injuries: Brain damage, coma-like state

CPI Assistance: Emergency medical treatment, nutritional support.

Scrap metal collection can be a most profitable profession, or even a hobby. What draws most collectors to this dangerous occupation is the quick financial return on little investment. Collectors do not need professional training, either. Collecting scrap provides them with an immediate income. Even though collectors are aware of the inherent dangers, they do not realize that they may pay the ultimate price for a simple aluminum casing: their own life, or even worse, someone else’s.

A typical day for a scrap metal collector is somewhat like a game of hide-and-seek. He or she searches for various bits of metal around towns or in forests or fields. Once they find what they are looking for, and have amassed a sizeable amount of pieces, they return to the scrap yard where they sort the metal into organized piles. From there they can determine which pieces will be the most valuable. Bronze and explosive material brings in the most money. Aluminum falls second, and iron close behind. Regardless of the shape, size, or nature of the piece of metal, collectors remain determined to extract precious metals for quick pocket money.

On the morning of November 29th, 2004, in Dong Ha town, it was a typical morning in a local scrap yard. There were four or five people well into their morning routine, some standing near piles of metal, pulling pieces out and tossing them into other piles. Others were seated on the littered ground, inspecting bits of metal with tools in their hands. Doan Thi Nam, 46, was seated under the metal roof of the main structure in the yard, looking at pieces of metal under her fingertips. Close by, another worker was crouched on the ground, tinkering with a particularly heavy round piece of metal he had brought back from his rounds the previous day. He held a tool in his hands, looked at the object, and frowned. The metal would just not come apart. He started on it again, and this time, he succeeded.

There was a small explosion, and the top of the UXO shot off from his hands. The piece shot through the air and as Doan Thi Nam bent over to pick up another piece of metal, she felt a sharp crack to her head. She lost consciousness and slumped to the ground. Blood flowed freely from her head onto the dirt floor, and her supervisor, seeing the accident happen from across the yard, ran to her side and knelt on the ground. She was still alive, but barely.

He rushed Nam to Quang Tri General Hospital, where doctors attended to her injuries. The top of the UXO had broken her skull on impact, and the resulting bone fragments were resting on her brain, causing massive bruising and sending Nam into a coma. She received cranial surgery at Quang Tri General, and after the procedure, the doctors advised she be moved to the Neurology Department at Hue Central Hospital for recovery. She spent nearly three weeks in recovery and is now back at her home, unable to work, and is being taken care of by her husband.

The police showed up to the scrap yard the same day the accident happened. They confiscated the piece of UXO but CPI staff was able to later view it at the police station and confirmed that this case was indeed an UXO-related accident. The police informed Nam’s family that they could legally press charges on the scrap yard owner for having live UXO in his possession, but since Nam’s family lives next door, they have decided instead to avoid neighborhood difficulties and to not request legal action against the owner.

Nam’s family has spent nearly 20,000,000 VND (over $1,000 USD) on her care. A sum of this magnitude can immediately and irreversibly push any poor family into a downward economic tailspin. The scrap yard owner contributed 5,000,000 VND towards her treatment, and even though he initially claimed he would pay for all medical services, Nam’s family will not approach him for further assistance. CPI is reimbursing her family for nearly all of the costs incurred as a result of the accident.